1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a wheelchair, and more particularly, to a wheelchair that is convertible into a gurney for transferring an immobile patient from a bed to a gurney or vice versa.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It appears to be widely accepted that a major, if not the major, work-related complaint among nurses and hospital nursing staff is back injury caused by lifting patients and getting them in and out of a bed and to and from a gurney or a stretcher, as it is commonly referred to. This is also true with transferring a patient from a wheelchair into a bed. Although the prior art includes wheelchairs that are convertible into gurneys, several problems exist when those patients must be moved from the bed to the gurney and vice versa. These problems include back injuries caused by lifting the patients and getting up in and out of the bed from the gurney and vice versa.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a wheelchair that is convertible into a gurney so that a patient may easily be transferred from a bed to the gurney and vice versa.
The present invention is a wheelchair convertible into a gurney that includes a main frame, having a back portion, seat portion and a leg portion. The back portion is pivotally connected to the seat portion, and the seat portion is pivotally connected to the leg portion. The seat portion has a front portion and a rear portion, wherein the back portion is positioned adjacent the rear portion and the leg portion adjacent the front portion. A back support is attached to the back portion. A seat support is attached to the seat portion, and a leg support is attached to the leg portion. A rear frame is pivotally secured to the back portion, and a supplemental frame is pivotally secured to the rear frame. A plurality of front wheels is secured to the seat portion, and a plurality of rear wheels is secured to the supplemental frame. A longitudinally-extending guide rod having two ends is provided. One end attaches to the supplemental rear frame, and the other end extends toward the leg portion. A guide is attached to the seat portion. The guide rod slidably passes through the guide. The guide is positioned between the two ends of the guide rod. When the main frame is in a first position, the back portion, the seat portion and the leg portion are arranged so the portions of the back support, seat support and leg support are arranged in different planes. When the main frame is in a second position, by pivoting the back portion in the downwardly direction and pivoting the leg portion in an upwardly direction, portions of the back support, seat support and leg support are in a gurney position.